186 



SILK M A xN U A L , AND 



feet a plant, and hence deterioraiion ninst l>e the 

 conseqiierioe. Natma.n W'ild. 



Cliestertiel(i,:r>]an,-h 20, 1837. 



IMPROVEMENT IN SAP BOII.IiVG. 



Mr Tucker : — If 1 sliould ttdl tiiose of your 

 readers who manufacture maple sugar how tliey 

 can save one quarter of their time, and a quanti- 

 ty of Kugar from burning ti;), wouKl they care in 

 what kind of style that information was commu- 

 nicated to theiti? Weil, tiien, tell those who hoil 

 in cauldrons or potash kettles, to hang them on a 

 balance — not stationary as my own grandfather 

 used to do, and myself after him, by which means 

 1 burned u\) more or less sugar every year, by 

 leaving too much fire under the kettles, when I 

 left them at night. 



Now I lay a stiff pole across two stumps or in 

 two stiff crotches stuck in the ground. I then 

 take another straight pole, 25 or 30 feet long, lay 

 it across the first [)ole, and hang my |)Otash ket- 

 tle on the butt end of it, about four feet from the 

 cross bar. I then put a weigiit on the op[iosite 

 end from the kettle, just so that the kettle will 

 balance with four iuickets of sap in it. Then af- 

 ter boiling sap all day in my kettles, I can hiave 

 as much fire under them as f T)lease without fear 

 of burning up my sugar. In the morning, I rind 

 my kettles swung Uj) four feet from the fire, with 

 three or four buckets full of syrup in each one. 

 1 then take that out and put it in a tub to settle 

 until I want to boil it into sugar. O i the above 

 plan tnentyfive buckets of sap will boil away 

 from one kettle while I am asleep. 

 — lb.] MumciAy. 



Crrom tli8 N. H, Patriot.) 

 Extract from an Address, read before the Merri- 

 mack County Agricultural bociety, at their an- 

 nual Cattle Show and Fair, holden at Concord, 

 N. H., Oct. 1836, by Cyrus Karto.n. 



IKDIAK CORN. RIDGIXG. 



There is a mode of culture in practice in soma 

 parts of the State, which, in my oj)ini(in, is fir 

 preferable to that generally practiced in this coun- 

 ty. Preferable, because more tiian one half of 

 tiie labor of plougiiing and hoeing is saved, and 

 lit tiie s;ime time a belter crop is obtained. The 

 mode is tliis : When a piece of mowing or pas- 

 ture land is to be broken iij) in the spring for corn, 

 the first thing is to spread tiie manure cveidy over 

 the whiile surface. The ground is next thrown 

 into ridges, by means of a plough with double 

 mould-boaids and shares, — so tliat a furrow is 

 turnetl up on each side of the plough as it passes 

 along. Instead of going round, or "marking off 

 a land," as it is termed, the plough returns on the 

 ill s ida, within 20 or 24 inches of the first fur- 



row. You then have a ridge — the edges of the 

 two furrows coming nearly in contact, the grass 

 is covered up, and all the manure vvhich was 

 spread over the si)ace occupieil, is thrown within 

 the ridge. A man follows with his hoe to mend 

 u[) tlri turf where it breaks and fails hack, and to 

 fill up the interstices between the edges of the 

 turf with soil from the furrow. 



As the ground only requires to be plau',d)ed to 

 the depth of about four or five inches, two yoke 

 of oxen will easily plough two acres and a half 

 in a day, and which, where th'^ ground is tolera- 

 bly smootii and free from stone, the man who fol- 

 lows will dress and render fit for i)lanting in the 

 same time — or, as is frequently practised, the corn 

 is dropped and planted, at the same time the 

 ridges are dressed ; and which is no doubt the 

 better way. 



Here then is a vast saving of labor ; for I be- 

 lievethat ploughing one acre, by the present mode, 

 is a good day's work ; and on the intervale lands 

 in this town, t!ie services of not less than 3 yoke 

 of cattle are required. But this is not all — for the 

 ground then has to be harrowed, cross-ploughed, 

 and furrowed out for jilanting. So that the dif- 

 ference in labor, of preparing grass-land for a corn 

 crof), is as three to one in favor of ridging. 



But this is not the only advantage. Thegrounil 

 being ploughed at the very time of plantimr, after 

 the grass had become green, the decomposition of 

 the turf and manure, thrown together within the 

 ridge, causes fermentation to take place, the ge- 

 nial warmth of which causes the coin rapidly to 

 spring up, and come forward with a vigorous and 

 healthy growth, and with the whole of the manure 

 confined within range of its roots, subject neitlier 

 to evaporation or to be washed away by rains, the 

 corn usually comes to maturity sotne eight or ten 

 days earli.,'r, than when treated in a di(ferent man- 

 ner. 



This mode of ridging has long been practised 

 in Sullivan County. More than twenty years ago, 

 before 1 left the iarm for the more arduous and 

 severe labors of the workshop, I assisted in dres- 

 sing these ridges. The improved plough was at 

 that time unknown, and the ridges were then 

 made by passing the common (dough through both 

 ways in the same furrow. It is the only mode 

 ])ractised in some of the country towns of that 

 county now, whether the surface be rough or 

 smooth, or the ground wet or dry, when a crop 

 of corn is to be taken froui grass land ; and 1 am 

 happy to say that the experiment has been tried 

 here, during the present season, with the most 

 satisfactory results. 



At the suggestion of Paul Jacobs, Esq., who 

 last year represented the town of Croydon in the 

 Legislature, and who is one of the most extensive 

 and best farmers in Sullivan County, Mr William 

 Low of this town was induced to send for one of 



